The role of birds in matter and energy flow in the ecosystem. Aeshita Mukherjee,

2007·0.06 MB·English

by  Wilske, B

THE RAFFLES BULLETIN OF ZOOLOGY 2007
THE RAFFLES BULLETIN OF ZOOLOGY 2007 55(1): 191-194
Date of Publication: 28 Feb.2007
© National University of Singapore
THE ROLE OF BIRDS IN MATTER AND
ENERGY FLOWIN THE ECOSYSTEM
Aeshita Mukherjee
AINP on Agricultural Ornithology, Gujarat Agricultural University Anand, India. XTBG,
Chinese Academy of Sciences, Menglun, Mengla, P. R.China.
Email: [email protected] (Corresponding author)
B. Wilske
XTBG, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Menglun, Mengla, P. R. China
Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Biogeochemistry Dept. Mainz, Germany
C. K. Borad
AINP on Agricultural Ornithology, Gujarat Agricultural University Anand, India
ABSTRACT. – This paper is an attempt to present the pattern of matter and energy flow in a most common
species of bird, the House Sparrow (Passer domesticus). At the early stage of the bird produces a biomass
with relatively well effectively whereas oxidize a strikingly significant ration of their food consumed afterwards.
The rate of matter flow from the sparrows fed on millet and eggs can be compared to that of the grasshopper
larvae or other small insects. In a similar study it was found that birds at any age utilized surplus materials
for vital process but with a lower production compared to the epimorph insect model. Thus, this small study
is all the more important to emphasize the role of birds in the energy budget in ecosystem may be unambiguous
but are important by all means.
KEYWORDS. – Birds, energy, food, biomass environment protection.
INTRODUCTION for human processes without inducing fatal and irreversible
changes in the system. All these of course, include only a
In accordance to the production biologists, ecosystems and part of the operating problems. Yet, production biological
the communities involved as continual varying open systems. data would provide knowledge for necessary utilization of
The motive of this variation is the suns’ energy harnessed by the natural resources and the solution of problems involved
the green plants via their assimilation. Other organisms for in nature and environment protection.
life then utilize the matter and the energy accumulated in the
plant tissues either directly or indirectly accordingly their own The food consumed by the animals are rearranged into three
species-specific way. The transfer of matter and energy from various matter and energy pathways. A part of it is built up
one organism to another (say from one trophic level to their own organism and some of which is eliminated as faeces,
another) is mediated through feeding. This results in a urine and other wastes and a third part is utilized as energy
continual flow of matter and energy throughout the ecosystem for vita process in the course of metabolism or degradation.
and a trophic relationship among the units of the communities. The decomposed matter could be returned to the food supply
of the community only by the autotrops, where as the
In ecology, several types of relationships are known among degraded energy is dissipated and is totally lost in the
the various living organisms and between the living organisms community. This provides the basic foodstuff for the units of
and their lifeless environment. On part of these is contingent. the communities at appropriate trophic level (Gere, 1957;
The trophic relationship is however, implicit and lies in the Balogh, 1958; Richman, 1958; Gere, 1983).
principle of the system. It can be, therefore, considered to be
the most important relationship. When discovering this All the process involved in the matter and energy flow may
relationship system and being familiar with the quality of the be summed up as C = P + FU + R; where, C is absorbed
variations in matter and energy, we can see the operation of energy or consumption, P: production, FU: faeces, urine or
the community (or ecosystem). This approach enables at least wastes and R the degraded energy or respiration (Petrusewicz
quantitative estimates of matter and energy utilization needed & Macfadyen, 1970; Gere, 1978).
191
Mukherjee et al.: Matter and energy flow:
Like the majority of commonly kept companion birds, conditions, body size, physiological state and activity level.
passerines are primarily seed eaters in captivity. However, a Of all the birds commonly kept as pets, the energy
few scientific studies on their feeding ecology in the wild requirements of the budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus)
have been reported to confirm their natural diets. The daily have been most extensively studied (Drepper et al., 1988;
allowance for individual nutrients for passerines has only Harper & Skinner, 1998). However, studies exist which
recently been investigated (Caton, 1992); previous nutritional provide indications as to the energy requirements of other
guidelines being based on extrapolations from data for other bird species. (Davis, 1955; Cox, 1961; Bairlein, 1987).
species, primarily poultry. Since poultry species belong to
the orders Anseriformes and Galliformes and are thus However, in ornithology, the daily energy consumed is
biologically distinct from the Passeriformes, applying the referred to as great energy”. The energy utilization by birds
results of studies conducted on poultry must be done with is more varied than that of the majority of the vertebrates.
caution. Furthermore, the diets of poultry are very different This is mainly because of its high mobility and thus follows
from those of birds such as house sparrows, making it even the second thermodynamic law (Kendeigh, 1970). Therefore,
less appropriate to compare the species. in this paper, ‘Productivity’ as a general term being used for
production-biological achievements of the species in study.
The majority of Passeriformes are seed-eaters (granivores) The present research aims to account productivity in terms
although some also eat insects, fruit, berries and green foods. of energy gained and the expected results could be used to
Generally, sparrows are considered to be easily maintained extrapolate the other seed depredator specially in the
on an all-seed diet and, common with other seed-eating birds, agricultural ecosystem.
they remove the husk and consume only the kernel (Caton,
1992). Seed husks are of poor nutritional value, containing
low amounts of protein and fat and relatively high amounts MATERIAL AND METHODS
of non-starch polysaccharides and ash. Seed husk contribution
to the whole seed by weight is reported to depend upon seed The birds selected for this study, particularly for rearing the
species. Husks of seed species whose kernels contain high nestlings, represent those species, which are most tolerant
amounts of starch contribute between 15 and 22% of the for enclosure husbandry and thereby exhibiting most
whole seed by weight, whilst husks of seeds whose kernels realistically their productivity, regardless of their significance
have high fat contents contribute between 24 and 56% of the in any ecosystems. The results would be extrapolated for other
whole seed by weight (Kamphues et al., 1997). However, birds being of importance in the latter sense. To prefer with
Taylor reports little variation of husk weight between seed the seedeater, House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) was
species (Taylor, 1997). selected as a model bird species. In a similar kind of a study,
Finches were objected for experiment (Eisner, 1960; Caton,
In general, seed selection by birds is dictated by seed size 1992).
and nutritive value, with more nutritive seeds being selected
by smaller birds, independent of family. Seed size selection The study was conducted in premises of the Gujarat
shows dependence on both body and bill size, although Agricultural University using ten nest boxes (ten breeding
interfamilial differences exist; species with larger bills within pairs) having 26 nestlings were monitored from 3rd October
a family tending to select the larger seeds. Based on these – 15th of November 2005. The data was collected from the
data, Diaz hypothesizes that “smaller birds are only capable day of nestling till they fly out (approximately 30 days).The
of increasing their energy intake by selecting the more energy- productivity of the growing the sparrows nestling was
rich seeds, since they can handle only small seeds. On the evaluated as follows. The breeding pairs were housed into
other hand, because larger birds are capable of eating larger cages of 45 X 25 cm floor. Wooden boxes with a wide
seeds, their dependence on the energy contents of seeds opening and an open able cover which served as a nest was
decreases as their size increases” (Diaz, 1990).
Preferred seed type may additionally depend upon
macronutrient composition; seeds having higher starch
contents reported as being favoured over those with high fat
contents. In this case, oats (Avena sativa), canary seed and
millet (Panicum milioceum) were the most frequently
selected, with some consumption of hemp (Cannabis sativa)
and niger (Guizotia abyssinica) (Kamphues et al., 1993).
These observations deviate somewhat with the hypothesis of
Diaz (1990); seeds with high fat contents contain more energy
in kJ/g than those with high starch contents.
Like all animals, birds eat to satisfy their energy requirements
Fig. 1. The ratio of matter flow in the adults of the various avian
provided all other nutrients in the diet are balanced. Individual
species with similar matter flow, using millet as diet (Gere,1983).
energy requirements are influenced by a variety of factors
NB: Only data for Passer domesticus is incorporated from the present
including energy density of the diet, environmental
study.
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THE RAFFLES BULLETIN OF ZOOLOGY 2007
Table 1. Matter flow in the house sparrows Passer domesticus.
Mean live weight Share in
Age per nestling (g) consumption Production (g) Faeces and urine Respiration
Consumption
(Days) P x 100 FU x 100 R x 100
Millet Egg
Onset Terminal C C C
(%) (%)
2.8 3.9 6.0
0-12 0.75 10.52 12.7 66.9 33.1
22.04% 30.70% 47.24%
1.3 4.7 17.5
13-22 10.52 13.60 23.5 72.4 27.6
5.5% 20% 74.5%
0.85 2.7 13.9
23- 30 (fly out) 13.71 14.91 17.45 92.6 7.4
4.8% 15.4% 79.65%
taken for the study. As the nestlings of the most seed eating A realistic estimate in the wild could be done if we approached
birds require animal protein, a test diet composed of millet by comparison with the role of other animal. For the same
and boiled hen eggs was twice provided daily. Food insects seems to be the most convenient as they are usually
consumption, faecal production and body weight of the dominant in the ecosystems. Another presumption for a
nestlings were measured daily at an analytical accuracy and reliable comparison is the similar character of the food to be
corrected for dry weight. ingested. Therefore, the rate of matter flow from the sparrows
fed on millet and eggs can be compared to that of the
The rate of matter flow through the nestlings was quantified grasshopper larvae or other small insects. In a similar study
by subtracting the values for the parents, calculated from it was found that birds at any age utilized surplus materials
control experiments, from the daily total food consumption for vital process but with a lower production compared to
and total faecal production. This enabled the detection of the the epimorph insect model.
productivity of the sparrow over its growing period. Similar
tests on other seed eating species have been reported by It was also interesting to note that the intensity of food
(Dolink, 1975; Myrcha et al., 1970). consumption is frequently related to the surface area, instead
of the body mass, as it being mainly proportional to the
variations in surface area over individual growing and or to
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION the size of the various animals belonging to the identical types.
Our present findings on comparative food consumption with
The results obtained from ten nests comprising 26 nestlings body mass are well supported in accordance to Gere (1978).
are represented in Table 1 and Fig. 1. (Please note that the This small study is all the more important to emphasize the
Fig. 1 is a comparison of data from Gere, 1983 and our results role of birds in the energy budget of the ecosystem is
for House Sparrow). The first phase includes the initial life unambiguous but are important by all means.
span inside the nest, second represent the fledgling stage and
the third is post flying or at flying stage. Here the weight at
the third stage remained almost constant. The production for ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
the nestlings with respect to its food consumption was
significantly higher in the initial period. In spite of this Authors are thankful to the Indian Council of Agricultural
tendency, the food uptake by the birds proved less effective Research, New Delhi, for providing financial support during
at early stage compared to the fledgling stage, especially when the study through an ad hoc project. We are thankful to Dr.
the when there was a decreasing ratio of FU to an increasing Margot (Australia) for language correction and comments.
R. Thus it implies that the nestlings gain a biomass during
the initial period and then the process of gaining weight
becomes moderate and further slows down to a constant. The LITERATURE CITED
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